“Thank you…” Her voice was choked with emotion and she took a long breath before continuing. “Thank you for making me listen to your brother.”
“No thanks necessary.” The world began to blur as tears filled her eyes. “I’m just glad everyone is okay.”
“But how long will that last? What happened back there…if we aren’t safe with the army, what are we supposed to do now?”
Janet didn’t have the answer for that one. She sighed and shifted Ruthie up higher on her hip. The weight of her daughter was getting heavier by the minute and she wasn’t sure her strength could hold out much longer.
As if reading her mind, Kim reached out for Ruthie, moving the sleeping girl into her arms with the practiced hands of a mother.
Janet shook her arms as feeling returned to them, ignoring the pins and needles to look over to where Ana was shepherding the boys into the van while Jose and Trey packed their things in the back of the truck. Malcolm and Travis helped Alan into the cab of the truck with Jenny following close behind.
All of them were working together towards a common goal.
“I know what we do now,” she said, clasping Kim’s hand. “We stick together and help each other. As long as we aren’t alone, we’re gonna be fine.”
Subject File # 744
Administrator - It must be difficult to be raising a teenager under these circumstances.
Subject - I suppose it is. He had to become a man on the road but in my eyes he’ll always be my little boy. It’s a struggle not to hold on too tight.
Administrator - Maybe he has a chance to be a kid again now that you are here.
Subject - I don’t think so. He was done being a kid the moment he saw innocent people gunned down by the men who were supposed to protect them.
Kim sat with Trey in the bed of the pick up, his head resting on her shoulder as they stared out at the road. They had been silent since they had loaded up in the truck with the Wakefields and followed the van that held Janet and the others. Kim knew she should say something to Trey, offer him some reassuring words like a good mother should, but she was at a loss.
He had watched men, women and children get gunned down without mercy. He was old enough to know what was going on and the implications of it. She could tell him everything would be all right but he would know she was lying. They had watched people die tonight; empty platitudes were not going to cut it.
As his mother, she wanted to find the right combination of words that would erase the fear she saw in him but she knew there were no words. She could not change what had happened. He had seen the worst humanity had to offer tonight and he would bear that scar on his soul the rest of his life. All she could do was try to keep it from eating away at him.
“We should talk about what you saw tonight,” she said and he lifted his head from her shoulder, leaning back to rest it against the cab.
“I don’t understand. They said on the radio we should go to the base. Janet’s army friend told her to go there,” he said. “Why would they kill everyone who did what they said?”
“Because they were scared. When you’re scared you do things that don’t make any sense.”
“But they mowed those people down like it was nothing,” he said, his voice rising in volume along with his growing frustration. “I was scared too but I didn’t start killing people. They’re soldiers. They are supposed to be honourable and protect people.”
“They are soldiers but they’re also human. A lot of them are only a few years older than you and they’ve had it drilled into their head to follow orders no matter what. There is no excuse for what happened down there but I think there are several soldiers back there right now who are torn up inside over what they’ve done.”
“Things are changing, aren’t they Mom?” She nodded. “We’re not going home any time soon, are we?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“Are we ever going to go home?”
“I don’t know,” she replied honestly, reaching out to take his hand in her own. “But I do know that no matter what, you and me, we’re together. We may not have a home but we do have a family. And I will do everything to make sure you are safe.”
“And I promise to look out for you too, keep you safe.”
He looked at her with his deep brown eyes ringed with long, thick lashes, the same eyes that had stared up at her the first time she held him when he was born. Her baby boy was on the brink of manhood, forced to grow up even faster than he was already. It brought tears to her eyes.
“Oh damn, Mom, don’t start crying,” he groaned and she was reminded that he was still very much a teenage boy.
“I can’t help it. I just love you so much,” she said, pulling him into a hug and despite his groan, he hugged her back. “And I’m so proud of the man you are becoming.”
“Mom, it’s not that big of a deal. You know I always got your back,” he said, looking at her with a lopsided grin.
“I do,” she said with a laugh and the tension that had been coiled tight in her belly eased. It was only by a fraction but it was enough for her. She had to remember that they were still able to laugh and that had to count for something.
The truck turned to the left and she looked to see the van had turned onto a side road, a sign indicating that they were heading towards Barnaby Outlook. They drove down the narrow road for a bit before the trees broke and a large parking lot appeared before them. There was a stout brick building next to the lot, with a sign that read
Information Centre and Restrooms
perched on the roof.
The truck came to a stop next to the van and Malcolm got out of the van. He made a beeline for the building, gun in hand as he stopped to check the entrance and then disappeared around the corner of the building. The others stayed in the vehicles, silent as they waited on Malcolm.
Whether conscious or not, they had all fallen into line behind Malcolm’s leadership. He had proven himself after the highway and even Alan, his biggest opponent, was willing to wait on his orders.
It didn’t take long before Malcolm appeared from behind the building, holstering his gun as he walked back to join them, obviously satisfied that no one was lurking in the shadows.
“We’ll camp here tonight. It should be safe. There’s only one road in and hiking trails that lead out. I’d like to keep someone on watch throughout the night down on the outlook. We’re far enough out that I don’t think the soldiers will sweep through here tonight but we have no idea if anyone else is going to pass by. The outlook will give us a good vantage point to spot anyone coming up the road. Who knows how to handle a gun?”
Kim raised her hand and saw that Jose, Janet and all the Wakefields did the same.
“Great.”
He went to the back of the van, popping up the hatch and unzipping the duffel he had brought with him. He produced several Glock 22s, handing them out to those who had raised their hands.
Kim took the one he offered her, the heavy weight of it reassuring in her hand. There was something to be said for the power you felt with a gun in your hand.
“Be careful with them,” he advised. “Keep the safeties on when you aren’t on watch and make sure you don’t go shooting off at the first bump in the night. If you’re going to pull the trigger, be sure of your target. Last thing we need is someone getting shot coming back from taking a leak.”
Kim checked over the Glock, ensuring the safety was firmly in place. She had kept a gun for protection, worried about herself and her son living on their own. It had been a while since she had fired it, but if push came to shove, she remembered enough to use it to defend her son.
“I’ll take the first watch shift with Janet,” Malcolm said. “Travis, Alan, you mind relieving us in three hours? Figure you gotta stay up with that concussion of yours, at least watch will give you something to do.”
The men nodded their agreement. “There are vending machines on the other side of the building. The rest of you can clear them out before you go to sleep.”
He turned and walked to the trail that a sign proclaimed led to the observation deck, Janet following behind him after Ana agreed to watch over her children, fast asleep in the van. They were soon swallowed up in the shadows of the trees and Kim shifted her attention to the others. The Wakefield brothers disappeared behind the building while Ana clucked over the bruises and scrapes Jenny had gotten from her fall on the highway.
She joined Tray and Jose hauling the table by the building over to the vehicles just in time for Alan and Travis to return with armfuls of processed foods and bottles of water and soda.
It wasn’t the healthiest meal but it was something to fill their bellies and the way her stomach grumbled at the sight of a Twinkie, she knew she needed it.
Everyone tore into the food and Kim made sure to put aside several packets of peanut butter and crackers for the kids when they woke up. She also selected some oatmeal cookies and water, figuring that the least she could do was bring Malcolm and Janet something while they stood watch over them.
“Trey, I’m going to run some food to Janet and Malcolm,” she told him. “Stay with Jose and Ana.”
He rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to wander off and get lost, Mom.”
“Watch it,” she said, giving him what he called The Look. “You aren’t too old to put over my knee.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied, looking contrite and she knew he had gotten her point. It may be the end of the world but he still had to show some respect.
She headed off down the trail, carefully picking her way down the slope in the dark. As she got closer to the observation deck she heard voices drifting through the trees.
“But what if he’s wrong?”
She recognized Janet’s voice and the low, gravely voice that followed was clearly Malcolm.
“He’s never wrong. Sheppard wouldn’t put Omega into effect unless there was no other option.”
Her feet came to a standstill as she wondered who they could be talking about. It wasn’t anyone in their group. She hadn’t heard any of them mention the word omega, even in passing. She held herself still, straining to hear the conversation.
“Fine but what happens when we get there? I’m sure me and the kids weren’t part of the arrangement he made with you. What happens when you show up with us tagging along?”
“He’ll accept you.”
“How can you be so sure? You had to hide your job from us at that man’s orders.”
Ah, so the man had to be someone in the CIA.
“That was part of the job, he had no control over that. Janet, he wasn’t just my boss, he’s my friend. He is a good man, he would never turn away children, no matter who they belonged to.”
“And what about the others? I can’t just leave behind Jose and Ana or Kim and Trey. Even Alan doesn’t deserve to be left behind.”
Kim held her breath at the mention of their names, ears straining to catch every word.
“We’ll give them a choice, of course,” Malcolm told her. “They can come or they can stay. Not only is Sheppard a good man, he’s a smart man. He knows that he can’t do this alone and even with all his recruits, it will be difficult. The more people he has on his side, the stronger we will be. He won’t turn away good, honest people.”
“I don’t know…it’s a lot to swallow. You’ve earned some trust after what went down at the highway but you’re asking them to go that far on just your word.”
Where did he want them to go?
Kim crept further down the trail and her foot landed on a twig, the snap of it as loud as the crack of a whip.
“You can come out,” Malcolm said, his voice sounding almost amused instead of angry.
Well, there’s her cover blown. She walked the rest of the way down the trail to join them on the deck. The wooden platform had been constructed on a craggy outcropping of the hill and she knew that in the daylight it would offer a wide vista of the valley below.
She smiled, trying to feign innocence as she held up the food and water. “I figured you might be hungry.”
Malcolm took the offered food with a smile. “Thank you, Kim. I appreciate you thinking of us.”
She hadn’t noticed the smoky quality of his voice before and a tingle of awareness shot up her spine. The dimple in his right cheek that gave his face a boyish charm had also gone unnoticed but she was noticing it now. Same with the fullness of his lips and the dark ring of lashes around his soft brown eyes. And it hit her suddenly: Malcolm was a very attractive man.
What a strange thought to take over her brain at the moment. Maybe her mind was finally breaking after all the trauma. Or, more likely, it was desperately trying to focus on something trivial and meaningless instead of the dire situation reality was presenting. She forced herself to look away from Malcolm, focusing on handing Janet her share of the food.
“Thank you.” Janet cracked open the bottle and took a long swallow. “So, how much did you hear?”
Kim blushed at being called out on her eavesdropping but at the same time she was relieved to have something to focus her brain on instead of mentally undressing Malcolm.
“I didn’t mean to listen in but I couldn’t help it,” she tried to explain. “I heard you say that you’re going somewhere and you’re going to give us the choice to come with you. So where are you going?”